[Greenbuilding] not soft or hard green but both

Sat May 3 12:12:24 CDT 2008

We have done such damage in such short period of time that incrementalism may do no more than soften the crash, which seems fearfully all around us.

We have a funny problem that the Enlightenment begins about same time as Industrial Revolution and therefore both our downfall and potential for rationale and objective thought to counter environmental destruction were literally created hand-in-hand. No wonder so hard to separate them.

Both are only a few hundred years in the 10,000s of years of humans gentic development and life on a boundless earth, so it ia lot to ask to expect us to go against our basic genetic make-up to consume, have fun, make waste, etc... and think of better gadgets.

On the other hand, the control of resource and manipulation of the 'message' is in fewer and fewer hands and countries. If some ridiculously small number of builders build the majority of homes, if there are a few larger owners and builders making the commercial structures, and clearly a small percentage of population buying whatever, why is it not then the potential for, to paraphrase, a 'small number of decision-makers' making the change to the world - employing all of it capital, technology, labor, values and creation of attitudes for the shift.

A policitian noted that if the US determined that the next Apollo program equally as inspiring as putting a human on the moon, was to reach some goal like carbon neutrality (with a better 'brand' name) then why not this unit both 'hearts and minds' read technology and individual action to ultimiately not just solve some energy issues but make better communities along the way?

This sound like political rhetoric too, but what are we left with? all the techno in the world does not cut it, but if you don't have the tools to do what you need/want you are equally screwed, and some simple leadership can bring them together...
Brad

Brad Guy
Ph.D. Program
School of Architecture
Carnegie Mellon University
Cell: 814-571-8659

The 2009 Building Materials Reuse Association International Deconstruction and Reuse Conference will be held in Chicago, IL, April 27-29, 2009. Check www.buildingreuse.org for monthly updates including the call for presentations.

--- On Sat, 5/3/08, Steve T <progressivepenguin at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Steve T <progressivepenguin at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Consumer Reports unbiased?
> To: "Greenbuilding Building" <greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org>
> Date: Saturday, May 3, 2008, 12:15 PM
> You have really hit upon the main reason I see that the
> green and
> sustainable movements have not gone mainstream yet.  The
> "shades of green"
> idea should be used to unite people with different ideas,
> beliefs, and
> financial means to a common goal.  Instead, it seems that
> the "shades of
> green" is being used to differentiate, categorize,
> label and separate those
> who do more or those who believe in one certain method from
> everyone else.
> I really don't see that on this list, but on others it
> is a prevailing theme
> "We know better, we do more.  Our way or the
> highway."
> 
> Any advances we are going to make as a country and as a
> society toward
> sustainability will require technology as well as
> behavioral changes.  There
> are quite a few lists, forums and groups that focus on
> behavioral changes.
> There are also quite a few that focus on technology.  This
> one tends to
> focus on technology.  I participate in forums in both
> groups and get
> different information from each, which I take and use in a
> way that fits my
> life and ability.  I do not expect or want a "one size
> fits all" solution to
> this very complex problem.  Even though I agree that
> massive behavioral
> changes must be made by the majority of people in the US, I
> also know that
> as soon as one group of people try to force their beliefs
> on the rest that
> movement is doomed to fail.  I don't have the solution
> for everyone to this
> problem, but I have goals for myself and my family, which
> may or may not be
> the same as anyone else's goals.  If I really wanted, I
> could build a straw
> bale home, with a wind turbine out in the middle of no
> where and be off
> grid.  But we live in the city where that kind of thing is
> frowned upon.
> Our "solution" is quite different than our
> neighbor's solution, and this
> very fact just gives some people hives.
> 
> We have not one road, but many millions of different roads
> ahead of us, and
> some just are not even going in the same direction as
> others.  Interesting
> times indeed.
> 
> On Sat, May 3, 2008 at 9:51 AM, tom
> <tom at honeychrome.com> wrote:
> 
> > Couldn't agree more.  This list is on the lighter
> shade end of the
> > 'green' continuum, which isn't to say I
> haven't found much good
> > information here, but for the most part the list seems
> firmly rooted
> > in the current dominant overall paradigm and tends
> toward
> > technological and product-based 'tweaks' to
> extract incremental
> > advantages of efficiency within a system that is
> showing signs of an
> > inability to address the problems we're facing. 
> But as we work
> > toward a system of living and being that can properly
> address these
> > problems we do need these techno-fixes and
> product-based tweaks in
> > the transition, so it serves a great purpose.
> >
> 
> -- 
> "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a
> revolutionary act!"
> -- George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair)
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